Sailing The Gulf Of Mexico

Setting off from the dock at 8am, we sped over the Gulf of Mexico for the next 2 hours. Stopping briefly for photos of a pod of playful dolphins!

The boat was covered, which was nice, because that tropical Mexican sun is hot! Eventually we saw other boats gathering in the distance… this was a good sign.

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Waiting Our Turn

Unfortunately there was only one whale shark that day. But that’s still better than none, which sometimes happens early or late in the season. So a group of 6 boats took turns sending customers into the water.

We sat on the edge with our snorkel gear on, waiting for the signal to jump in. Once you’re in the water, the goal is to kick hard and fast to keep up with the shark. Because if you hesitate, you might miss it.

They swim effortlessly, but are much faster than they look.

You aren’t allowed to touch the whale sharks because it stresses them out, and may cause them to dive deep, ending the experience for everyone. Only 2 people go into the water at a time, along with your guide.

Huge 30 Foot Whale Shark

Swimming With Whale Sharks

Swimming next to a 30 foot long sea creature, the size of a small bus, was a wild experience. It’s a bit intimidating to be honest… they’re huge! It looks like they could swallow you whole…

But the world’s largest fish won’t try to eat you.

It’s just slurping up tasty plankton and expelling excess seawater through its gills. The white-spotted shark kept her eye on us, but didn’t seem to mind our presence.

Normally whale sharks live much deeper in the ocean — only coming up to eat about 46 pounds of those microscopic organisms each day.

How an animal this big can live on something so small is a mystery to me…

A Flamboyance of Flamingos!

Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

Flamingos & Sea Turtles Too!

After swimming with the whale shark 3 times, for a few minutes each, it was time to leave it alone and motor off to the next part of the trip.

Our guide prepared fresh ceviche as we sped back to Holbox, on our way to a reef. There we snorkeled for about 30 minutes with sea turtles, manta rays, and a bunch of fish. Including a few barracudas!

We then sailed into a protected bird sanctuary to watch flamingos and other sea birds hanging out in the shallow water, before heading back to the dock.

Great Day on the Water!

Sustainable Tourism

Is swimming with whale sharks ethical? Personally, I believe responsible and sustainable tourism can help these animals survive.

Sharks of all kinds are being wiped out by overfishing. But conservation & awareness projects to save them are often funded by tour permit fees. Without tours, these programs don’t get much funding.

Yet we also need to be careful, and not wreck the animal’s habitat due to unchecked tourism either. There’s no easy answer.

When To Visit

Whale Shark season on the Yucatan Peninsula is from June to September. This is when the sharks migrate to waters around Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Isla Contoy, and Isla Holbox to feed.

But the best months are July & August, when populations are highest.

Sunny days are better than cloudy days too, but not just because you’ll get better photos. The plankton whale sharks feed on only comes up to the surface when the sun is out, so if it’s cloudy, they stay below.

Boat Dock in Isla Holbox

White Sand Beaches in Holbox

Getting To Holbox

Most tourists base themselves in Cancun. If you want to book a whale shark tour from Cancun, click here. However, if you have the time, I recommend visiting the beautiful sleepy island of Isla Holbox. Voted a top travel destination by the New York Times.

To get to Holbox, you take a ferry from the fishing town of Chiquila, which is a 2 hour drive from Cancun (3 hours from Playa del Carmen). A bus is also possible, but takes a lot longer with all the stops. Hiring a taxi/shuttle can cost $60 – $100+ USD.

Best Places To Stay

I based myself from Mexico’s Isla Holbox to swim with the whale sharks, and had a wonderful trip. If you’re wondering where to stay on Holbox here are my recommendations:

READ MORE FROM MEXICO

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Have any questions about swimming with whale sharks in Mexico? Would you do it? Drop me a message in the comments below!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission, at no extra cost to you. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.

Hi, I'm Matthew Karsten — I’ve been traveling around the world for the last 7 years. Adventure travel & photography are my passions. Let me inspire you to travel more with crazy stories, photography, and useful tips from my travel adventures.

Nice post! We were in Mexico for the month of March all around the Yucatan and had thought about Isla Holbox, but in the end, didn’t make it. Would love to swim with whale sharks. Went scuba diving in Puerto Morelos, saw lots of fish, but no whale sharks. Your flamingo shot reminded me of the hundreds (thousands?) of flamingos we saw in Celestun. We’ll be back…. next time!

Thanks for your post. I so much want to see a whale shark at some point in my life. I tried to see them in the Philippines (Donsol), but it was late in the season, and we didn’t see any. You mentioned about the touching stressing them. I’ve also read that they are vulnerable to infection from the bacteria from us. And I’ve heard that in places like Oslob (in the Philippines) they will let people touch them, so please don’t go to Oslob for this :). They also feed them in Oslob, which I’ve read affects migration and had caused problems for them because of their skin knocking against the boats when they come up to them to get fed. Anyone planning to see whale sharks anywhere, please do your research and go with a responsible company that will respect the whale sharks and their wildness :).

Awesome.. I was lucky enough to experience swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines and it was one the best experiences of my entire life. You know.. when they swim straight towards you and it looks like they are gonna eat you!! haha it’s a pretty huge mouth! :) Thanks for the post

Nice! We would love to swim with whale sharks too one day, they look so awesome, and huge indeed. ;) When we were in Koh Tao in 2015 to learn how to scuba dive, there were some whale shark sightings, but we weren’t with the lucky spotters unfortunately. Mexico just jumped up a few places in our bucket list though. :D

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